Wrongfully imprisoned Maryland man who spent 32 years behind bars sues former authorities
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland man who was wrongly imprisoned for 32 years, including a decade on death row, for two killings he did not commit is suing former law enforcement officials in a lawsuit announced Thursday, though four of the five people named as defendants are deceased.
John Huffington was pardoned by then-Gov. Larry Hogan in January 2023. Hogan cited prosecutorial misconduct in granting a full innocence pardon to Huffington in connection with a 1981 double slaying in Harford County. A Maryland board approved $2.9 million in compensation for Huffington later that year during Gov. Wes Moore's administration.
Huffington said in a statement Thursday that 'it took many, many painful years, but the truth eventually came out.' Just 18 at the time of his arrest, he said neither of his parents ever got to see and understand that his name had been cleared and he was set free.
"All of those years I spent behind bars damaged and strained my relationships, cost me the ability to have a family of my own, cost me the ability to be with my mother when she died, cost me precious time with my father who was in his nineties and suffering from Alzheimer's when I finally was released,' he added.
Huffington, 62, always maintained his innocence. He was released from Patuxent Institution in 2013 after serving 32 years of two life sentences.
He was convicted twice in the killings known as the 'Memorial Day Murders.' Diane Becker was stabbed to death in her recreational vehicle, while her 4-year-old son, who was inside, was not harmed. Joseph Hudson, Becker's boyfriend, was fatally shot and found a few miles (kilometers) away. A second suspect in the slayings testified against Huffington, was convicted of first-degree murder, and served 27 years.
Prosecutors relied on testimony that was later discredited about hair found at the crime scene purportedly matching Huffington's.
He appealed his first conviction in 1981. In 1983, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to death. Prosecutors later commuted that sentence to two life terms.
Questions about evidence in the case arose when The Washington Post uncovered an FBI report in 2011 that found the FBI agent who analyzed hair evidence in Huffington's case may not have used reliable science, or even tested the hair at all. The report had been written in 1999, but Harford County State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly didn't provide it to Huffington's lawyers.
A Frederick County judge vacated Huffington's convictions and ordered a new trial in 2013 after Huffington presented new evidence using DNA testing that was not available during his earlier trials. When the hair evidence was tested for DNA more than 30 years later, the results showed it was not Huffington's hair.
Maryland's highest court unanimously voted to disbar Cassilly in 2021. The court found he withheld exculpatory evidence in the 1981 double murder and lied about it in the following years.
Cassilly, who maintained he did nothing wrong, retired in 2019. He died in January.
His brother, Bob Cassilly, who is now the Harford County executive, said in a statement that his brother was a decorated war hero who was injured while serving his country and served as the county's state's attorney for 36 years while in a wheelchair.
'Joe cannot defend himself in this decades-old matter because he is now deceased, as are the other named defendants, except for one who is almost 80,' Cassilly said. 'Harford County government, in which I currently serve as county executive, has no role in this case -- the county was never the defendants' employer."
Huffington also is suing the assistant state's attorney on his case, Gerard Comen, the Harford County government, and the county sheriff's office detectives, David Saneman, William Van Horn and Wesley J. Picha. All but Saneman are now dead, according to the lawsuit filed July 15 in federal court in Baltimore.
Saneman told The Washington Post on Wednesday he had not seen or heard of the lawsuit and declined to comment.
Solve the daily Crossword
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
26 minutes ago
- The Hill
Five things to know about possible FBI involvement in Texas redistricting battle
Several Republicans are opening the door to getting the FBI involved in forcing Texas Democrats to return to the state amid a protest over an even friendlier congressional map the GOP wants to pass. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) wrote to FBI Director Kash Patel this week, urging the agency to help Republicans bring back Democrats to the Lone Star State. President Trump left open the possibility on Tuesday, saying 'they may have to.' The statements from Trump and Cornyn mark a remarkable escalation in an already heated redistricting battle that started in Texas and has since fanned out across the country. But the comments invoking the FBI's assistance are raising questions around whether that's even possible. Here are five things to know about possible FBI involvement in the Texas redistricting battle: Why are Republicans calling for FBI involvement? Some Republicans are calling for the FBI's involvement after Texas Democrats left the state beginning on Sunday to block Republicans from passing a new map that would offer the Texas GOP five additional pickup opportunities in the House. Democrats broke quorum, meaning the minimum number of lawmakers needed to conduct legislative business, in an effort to stall passage of the maps in the state's lower chamber. They left for states including New York and Illinois, which Republicans point out were also gerrymandered by Democrats. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) have called for the lawmakers that fled to be arrested, and Abbott has already started the process of trying to remove at least one Democrat from office. But Democrats can technically stay out of the state as long as they want, which is why some Republicans have floated the use of federal law enforcement to compel them to return to Texas. What has the FBI said so far? So far, the FBI is staying mum on the issue. The FBI declined to comment when contacted by The Hill regarding the push to get them involved in bringing back Democrats to Texas. Attorney General Pam Bondi has also not said anything publicly about the issue. One looming question is how much pressure Trump puts on the Justice Department and FBI to act as the standoff continues. Does the FBI have the power to bring Democrats back to Texas? Some experts that spoke to The Hill appeared skeptical that the FBI could intervene in the matter, noting that the agency is concerned with violations of federal law while the Texas standoff is primarily an issue concerning individual states. 'I don't see why the FBI would be involved in this at all. I mean this is Texas politics and the FBI has no business trying to enforce Texas state law,' said Richard Painter, who served as associate counsel to the president in the White House Counsel's office during former President George W. Bush's second term. 'The only federal law that I think is being violated in Texas and in Illinois and several other states is voting rights,' said Painter, who's now a law professor at the University of Minnesota. 'I think gerrymandering violates voting rights, but the U.S. Supreme Court's not willing to do anything about it.' Painter's comments allude to a Supreme Court ruling in 2019 that gerrymandering is a political matter, not a legal one, and thus doesn't fall under the purview of federal courts. He said that if he were detained by the FBI in that situation and they said he needed to return to the Lone Star State, 'I'd be filing for a writ of habeas corpus tomorrow, and I think I'd win.' Another expert poured cold water over the idea as well. 'There's no offense against the United States. There is no reasonable basis that arresting Texas legislators will prevent the commission of a federal crime,' wrote Anthony Michael Kreis, an associate professor at Georgia State University College of Law, in a post on X, linking to an article by The New York Times regarding Cornyn's call to get the FBI involved. 'This is simply @JohnCornyn asking for the unconstitutional, lawless, and arbitrary federal power,' he added. Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor and professor at the University of Michigan Law School, said she wasn't sure, when asked about whether the FBI can compel Democrats to return to the state and if Trump can require officials to do this. 'Seems like an inappropriate use of federal law enforcement powers to address a political issue, and I don't see what the federal offense would be,' she told The Hill in an email. How are Democrats responding? Democrats have heavily criticized Republicans' efforts to push the FBI to get involved in detaining Texas lawmakers. 'Impeached Ken Paxton and twice impeached Donald Trump are threatening to send the FBI after Texas House Democrats. It's an illegal, authoritarian move that will not stand,' tweeted Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), one of the original lawmakers that fled the state in 2003 to deny Texas Republicans during mid-decade redistricting. Speaking to late night host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said 'they've not broken any federal law,' when asked about whether the FBI could get involved. 'And frankly, in the state of Illinois, we're not going to let them get taken away. We're going to protect those Texas House Democrats.' Meanwhile, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) wrote on X that doing so would be 'indefensible.' 2024 Election Coverage What other means is the GOP using to pressure Democrats? Republicans aren't facing many good options in terms of forcing Democrats to come back to the state. Abbott on Wednesday filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Democratic leader Gene Wu from his seat in the Texas state House. And Paxton has also called for the ouster of the Democrats who fled. But so far the GOP's options appear limited. There's no question that Democrats will come back eventually — they will have to at some point after being away from their families and constituents for so long, and also must address other hot-button issues in the state like flood relief. The real question is how long Democrats will stay away, which will be determined by lawmakers' stamina and resources.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Trump announces Apple investing another $100 billion in US manufacturing
WASHINGTON (AP) — Apple CEO Tim Cook joined President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday to announce a commitment by the tech company to increase its investment in U.S. manufacturing by an additional $100 billion over the next four years. 'This is a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in the United States of America also are made in America,' Trump said at the press conference. 'Today's announcement is one of the largest commitments in what has become among the greatest investment booms in our nation's history.' As part of the Apple announcement, the investments will be about bringing more of its supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the United States as part of an initiative called the American Manufacturing Program, but it is not a full commitment to build its popular iPhone device domestically. 'This includes new and expanded work with 10 companies across America. They produce components — semiconductor chips included — that are used in Apple products sold all over the world, and we're grateful to the President for his support,' Cook said in a statement announcing the investment. The new manufacturing partners include Corning, Coherent, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments and Broadcom among others. Apple had previously said it intended to invest $500 billion domestically, a figure it will now increase to $600 billion. Trump in recent months has criticized the tech company and Cook for efforts to shift iPhone production to India to avoid the tariffs his Republican administration had planned for China. While in Qatar earlier this year, Trump said there was 'a little problem' with the Cupertino, California, company and recalled a conversation with Cook in which he said he told the CEO, 'I don't want you building in India.' India has incurred Trump's wrath, as the president signed an order Wednesday to put an additional 25% tariff on the world's most populous country for its use of Russian oil. The new import taxes to be imposed in 21 days could put the combined tariffs on Indian goods at 50%. Apple's new pledge comes just a few weeks after it forged a $500 million deal with MP Materials, which runs the only rare earths producer in the country. That agreement will enable MP Materials to expand a factory in Texas to use recycled materials to produce magnets that make iPhones vibrate. Speaking on a recent investors call, Cook emphasized that 'there's a load of different things done in the United States.' As examples, he cited some of the iPhone components made in the U.S. such as the device's glass display and module for identifying people's faces and then indicated the company was gearing to expand its productions of other components in its home country. 'We're doing more in this country, and that's on top of having roughly 19 billion chips coming out of the US now, and we will do more,' Cook told analysts last week, without elaborating. News of Apple's latest investment in the U.S. caused the company's stock price to surge by 5% in Wednesday's midday trading. That gain reflects investors' relief that Cook 'is extending an olive branch' to the Trump administration, said Nancy Tengler, CEO of money manager Laffer Tengler Investments, which owns Apple stock. Despite Wednesday's upturn, Apple's shares are still down by 15% this year, a reversal of fortune that has also been driven by the company's botched start in the pivotal field of artificial intelligence. —-
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Trump, Vance blast ‘fake news' Epstein meeting
President Trump and Vice President Vance blasted reports on Wednesday that said a group of top administration officials were gathering to discuss whether to publish audio and a transcript of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell. Trump was asked if Vance was hosting a gathering to discuss the Epstein situation, after CNN first reported that the meeting at the vice resident's residence was taking place that evening. 'I don't know, I could ask you that question,' Trump said, looking at his vice president. 'I don't know of it, but I think, here's the man right here.' Vance then chimed in, bashing the journalists who reported it. 'I saw it reported today, and it's completely fake news. We're not meeting to talk about the Epstein situation, and I think the reporter who reported it needs to get better sources,' Vance said. The president added, 'look, the whole thing is a hoax. It's put on by the Democrats.' He added that the reporting is a 'way of trying to divert attention to something that is total bulls—.' The vice president's office earlier Wednesday also criticized the reporting. 'The CNN story is pure fiction. There was never a supposed meeting scheduled at the Vice President's residence to discuss Epstein strategy,' said William Martin, communications director to Vance. The meeting was reportedly expected to include Vance, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI director Kash Patel and Blanche. The FBI didn't respond to a request for comment from The Hill. Blanche recently met twice with Maxwell, a longtime associate of deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein, as the administration faces increasing pressure to release more information from the Epstein files. Trump on Wednesday also said he hasn't been briefed on what Maxwell told Blanche. He said earlier this week that he wasn't aware of the decision to move Maxwell from a federal prison in Florida to a federal prison in Texas. 'I didn't know about it at all,' Trump said. 'It's not a very uncommon thing.' The move to Texas comes as Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking and is serving a 20-year prison sentence, and her legal team are appealing her case to the Supreme Court in hopes of having her conviction overturned.
